


The Light Within

by indigogalaxy9



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, First Meetings, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Self-Insert
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-03
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:40:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24527008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/indigogalaxy9/pseuds/indigogalaxy9
Summary: When two lonely spirits meet, thinking it was nothing at first, they learn to grow with, and without, each other. Until eventually, they find what they needed most.(yes its a terrible summary ik)
Relationships: Pitch Black/Indigo Galaxy, Pitch Black/OC
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	The Light Within

**Author's Note:**

> ok so the first version of this story. sucked. so im rewriting it.
> 
> indigo is my persona so this is, basically a self-insert if i was in the story  
> and im aware that hes a bit like jack but hes different i promise

_Spring, 1899_

It was a dreary day in Burgess. Only minutes ago was the area dry. Now, large drops of rain pelted down from the sky, covering every surface with a sheet of water. Everyone in the town had quickly taken shelter within their homes and waited for the storm to pass. Deep within the forest on the edge of the town, the creatures that lived within took the same notion, hiding in burrows and nests trying to stay dry. Though one particular spirit was having no such luck. 

Huddled beneath a large oak, a spirit tried seeking refuge but to no avail. He had light lilac skin, with long wavy hair colored a dark indigo pulled back into a ponytail. He wore a white 18th century white blouse and dark trousers that ended just under his knees. On his back, he had a black tattoo in the shape of wings. And with some concentration, he was able to summon large black-feathered wings from his body. They could take him anywhere, and he's traveled across the world with them. But now, with the rain, the water would soak into his feathers, making them unable to give him the flight he now desperately craved. With a heavy sigh he let his head fall against the bark. He was getting more wet and more agitated by the second. He didn't want to run in the mud but figured muddy feet were better than staying out here.With blue-purple eyes, he scowled at the situation before him. He wasn't very fond of the rain honestly. Only the time before it did. The cool winds and cloudy skies brought him a definite calmness, one he loved to bask and rest in. Usually he would make it out of the area before it actually started to rain. But this time he dozed off against the trunk of the tree he now clung to, and was stuck in place.

A crack of thunder rumbled throughout the air, causing him to jump in fright. Okay, he wasn't staying here. He was sure there wasn't any man-made shelter nearby but figured he'd try to look anyhow. It was a little too dark to see through the rain, but he could fix that easily. The spirit held his hand out, palm up, fingers curled as if they were clutching an invisible object. He closed his eyes and concentrated. Within several seconds, a small ball of light appeared in his hand. He focused more, and soon he was able to see the immediate area around him. With a smirk, he looked around to find any sort of protection. He scanned around until his eyes caught something in the distance. He squinted his eyes to get a better look, but the rain was too heavy to see clearly. He huffed before coming to a decision. Outstretching his hand above his head, he took a deep breath, then darted out into the forest.

The spirit's feet slipped on the muddy ground underneath as he sprinted towards the object in the distance. He had to lift his unoccupied hand up to shield his eyes from the torrential downpour just to see where he was going. Within a few moments he had a better view of what awaited in front of him. It was...a bed frame? Confused, he kept going in the hopes that maybe something could be of value to this. Soon, he was standing in front of an old weathered bed frame, broken down by the test of time. He peaked his head over and saw that beneath the frame was a hole stretching down into the darkness under the ground. He blinked, perplexed at the position he was now in. Should he go down there? It seemed daunting, and yet, he felt curious at what could be down there. Other creatures? Spirits? Who knew?

Another crack of thunder above his head caused him to come to a decision. He leaned down and lifted the frame up a bit to crawl under without getting anything more than his feet muddy. He could've maybe broken some of the boards of the frame itself but, well he didn't know if anything lived down there, and if something did then maybe they wouldn't be happy with him breaking something that was a part of their home. Gazing down into the darkness, a sense of excitement overcame him. A little fright too, but excitement overall. Taking a deep breath, he jumped down into the hole, the bed frame falling back into its original position on the ground.

The spirit grunted as he fell down the hole, slamming into the walls as he descended into the darkness. After a few hits, he finally hit a flat surface, face down.

"Ow." 

After a few moments, he rose up and lifted a hand to his aching head. Grimacing at the pain throughout his body, he raised up to kneel upon his knees and squeezed the water out of his hair. He then looked up at what lay before him. At the sight, his eyes widened in wonder. 

Before him stood a massive cavern. Streams of light lit the place, though many shadows littered the corners. Stone bridges criss-crossed along the site, stairways leading in all directions to nowhere. Upon looking up he saw many black cages strewn along hanging from the ceiling. All in all, it was an extraordinary sight.

Wide-eyed, the spirit rose up slowly, walking forward until he reached the edge of a small cliff. He gazed at what was before him in awe. Someone obviously lived here, but who? Who would live in such a wondrous place? Curious even more, he closed his eyes and raised his right hand to his upper left breast where his heart laid underneath. A small light emitted from where his hand and chest connected, sensing to see if there were any other lights in the area. With no response, he lowered his hand and opened his eyes. If there was someone living here, they weren't here now, so it should be okay to take a look around, right?

His gaze wandered down to see something of interest. A large black object. He wanted to see what it was. Light came from his back, forming and taking the shape of black, feathered wings. He flapped them a couple of times before he used them to fly down to whatever lay below.

Once he was grounded by the article, the wings dissipated into light once more before disappearing. The spirit walked forward, gazing up in awe at the sight. It looked like something in one of those books he had seen in a library once. He couldn't read but a few letters and words unfortunately, but the pictures provided an idea of what it was. It was the Earth, only the land that covered it. At least, as far as he could gather. He reached a hand up to touch the metal gently. Who would need a kind of item such as this?

"Can I help you?"

The spirit yelped in surprise at the sudden new voice. He quickly turned around at the source.

"I'm-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to intrude, I just-."

He paused. Before him stood a figure, over six feet tall he guessed, six and a half maybe. He wore a dark robe that extended to his feet, splaying out behind him. His arms were clasped behind his body. But most of all that intrigued him was his face. His skin was grey and smooth, with high cheek bones and sunken in cheeks. Black coarse hair swayed toward the back of his head. A nose the very definition of aquiline and a jawline that could cut glass. The most interesting detail was his eyes. When looking closer, he could see they were gold with an outline of silver, almost like a solar eclipse, with a dark circle around the eye itself. He didn't realize his hair and eyes were sparkling.

Something about him captivated the spirit. He gazed at him for a few moments before noticing the other was waiting for an answer. He shook his head quickly as he tried to come up with a reason for invading his home.

"I...I was just, finding a place to seek shelter from the storm outside. I'm terribly sorry for intruding on you. Please forgive me."

The other raised a brow. "What's your name?"

"Um, Indigo, sir. What, um, what's your name?"

The other paused, then placed his left arm in front, giving a curt bow. "Pitch Black."

Indigo remembered that name. He took a second to think of where. "You're...you're the Boogeyman, right?"

Pitch curled his lip slightly at the name. "Yes, though it is not how I wish to go by." He walked forward until he was right in front of Indigo. The smaller spirit felt intimidated as he was gazed upon, standing stiff while Pitch's face being a blank slate and giving no indication of what he was thinking or feeling stared down at him. Indigo looked down and fiddled with his fingers in front of him. "I, um, can leave if that is what you wish..."

Pitch was quiet still until, "You may stay if you'd like, just don't wreck anything."

Indigo looked up in surprise. "Oh, um thank you!" He spoke excitedly with a smile. He was about to say something else before Pitch turned and began walking away. Indigo's smile faltered as he left. He turned to look around. He didn't want to exactly be alone in the cave to be honest, knowing someone was here. He didn't want to be alone. He looked back at Pitch, then quickly followed him. They traveled along the winding bridges that littered the cave. Indigo had a little trouble keeping his balance as the bridges were tilted.

"So," Pitch said, catching Indigo's attention. "Tell me about yourself."

Indigo lightly scratched the back of his head before beginning. "Well, I remember coming around about 120 years ago..."

*

He slowly opened his eyes, letting them adjust to the darkness a bit. The first thing he realized was that he was cold, as well as sore all over his entire body. Taking a deep breath, he rolled over onto his back. Looking up he saw the moon, its luminescence lighting up the sky and area around him and giving him a sense of calmness. For a reason unknown to him, the word "Indigo" came to his mind. He knew it was a kind of color, but wasn't sure why he thought of it, so he just gave himself the word as a name. Indigo groaned as he sat up. He instantly regretted it, as he gasped from a sharp pain in his right side underneath his ribs. He lifted his hands to his body and felt clothing, looking down to see some kind of uniform on him. He meticulously unbuttoned the coat and pulled the thin shirt underneath to look at where the pain was coming from. From the dim light he could see a small circular scar under his right breast. He delicately touched it, hissing as it was still sensitive. 

Indigo looked up to survey his surroundings. He was in some kind of field, though there were things littered around it. He creased his brow in question before looking to the nearest thing next to him. He reached a hand out and felt clothing like the ones he was wearing. He used both hands to turn the thing towards him and saw-

a body. A dead body.

Indigo yelped and jumped back. His breathing quickened as he looked over to see another thing on the ground. He hurriedly crawled over to it and turned it over to see another body. He was now becoming hysterical. He gazed around and saw lots of bodies everywhere. Feeling tears come to his eyes, he curled up in a ball, hoping and praying for this to be some kind of dream. His body trembled as he sat there, until he looked up and noticed the area was a bit brighter. The spirit looked up and saw the moon. For some reason, it relaxed him. Soon his breathing was returning to normal and he was able to uncurl from his stiff position.

Indigo slowly rose up, standing up completely before taking another look around. Seeing the bodies everywhere, he desperately wished to leave. He didn't want to be here. Indigo didn't notice it at first, but he see saw a light purple light coming from behind him. He turned to see what it was, but it seemingly moved to stay behind him. He kept turning to try and see it before he realized it was coming from his back. He watched in fascination as the light curled around him and took a shape. It then solidified, becoming a pair of large, black feathered wings. Indigo's eyes were wide as he looked at them, lifting a hand to feel the soft feathers. He gave a breathless laugh, smiling as he maneuvered them, stretching and curling them around, trying to get used to them.

Indigo then looked back at the field, his smile faltering. He didn't want to be here still, but with these wings....

He flapped them a bit as he got warmed up. Then, he jumped into the air, flapping them wildly, but unfortunately he fell back down to the ground. Grunting in frustration, he got up again to try a few more times but to no avail. Indigo placed a hand to his chin as he thought. Maybe he had to get some speed. Prepping himself up again, he bulked up before dashing forward, sprinting for a bit before flapping his wings again. With a deep breath, he yelled as he jumped off of the ground, moving his wings. He was airborne for a few moments before he landed on the ground, still running. He did this several times before he was able to get the hang of it and stay off the ground. 

Indigo smiled as he flew up into the night, slowly gaining altitude and seeing the field from above. He couldn't help but laugh as he soared into the night. 

*

"And from there I began wandering the world, just seeing what was out there."

Pitch nodded as he listened to his story. "Interesting. So you're able to fly. What else can you do?"

"Um, well I can make a ball of light to see where I am." Indigo demonstrated by repeating the motion he did before with his hand, an orb of light soon materializing in his palm. Pitch watched him with the same expressionless face, but seemed interested at the same time. 

Indigo dissipated the orb. "And, when I focus, I can sense different lights from far away. I've learned that those lights are actually others; spirits, creatures, humans, anything."

That made Pitch turn his head. "You can sense with other life forms are around?"

"Mhmm!"

"So how could you not sense that I was here?"

That made Indigo pause. "Um...well, I uh, didn't find any lights here at first. I don't know why. But now," He placed his hand to his chest again, focusing. "I can sense you now. It's just....very little." Indigo looked back up at Pitch, worried.

Pitch just looked forward once more and huffed. "Makes sense. I'm a creature of fear and darkness. I don't have any light."

Indigo fiddled with his fingers again. "Well, um, you do. I can feel it there. Like I said, it's just, very small." He looked up and noticed Pitch looked a bit agitated. He instantly changed the subject. "SO! Um, why don't you tell me about yourself? I don't know anything about you except that, you're the Boogeyman." He looked up at the older spirit with smile.

Pitch eyed him from the side as he took in his words. "I am the essence of fear itself. I didn't have a physical, human-esque form until humans began to roam the Earth. I used to be very powerful, controlling the entire world with simple shadows and words of suspicion." He gazed off ahead as he reminisced, looking fond of the memories. He then scowled. "Then, the Guardians came along. They felt my power too great, and with the Man in the Moon's help, they shut me down, cast me out until I was nothing but a faint shadow in the smallest corner of the world. Now, I just roam around, powerless, barely anything of what I once was. Once humans could sense my very presence and now...now they just walk through me."

Indigo watched him as they walked, growing pity for him. "I'm sorry...that must be awful. I can somewhat understand. I didn't realize at first that humans had to believe in me in order to see me. I remember when I learned that..."

*

It had been a few days since Indigo first woke up. He had been flying all around, just taking in the world around him. One day he came across a town in the middle of the day. At first when he landed he avoided them, as he was wary of strangers. He just took his time looking in shops and buildings as curiosity overtook him. When looking at road signs, he unfortunately couldn't read them. With a huff at trying to make one out, he turned to a man sitting on a nearby bench. It couldn't hurt to ask what it said, right?

He walked over to the stranger. "Excuse me, sir?" Indigo waited for an answer but the man paid him no mind. "Um...e-excuse me sir? I was just wondering if you could tell me-" He reached out to his shoulder but instantly shot back when his hand went through the man. He yelped and jumped back a few steps. His breath came out quickly at the experience, looking down and touching his hand to make sure he was there. Indigo then looked around to see a woman with her child walking by. "Um, ma'am?" He reached out again and, once more, his hand went through her. He gasped and held his hand to his chest. What was going on? Why was he going through them, why couldn't they see him?!

"H-Hello? Anyone?! Somebody?!" He screamed out, pleading for anyone to hear him. But none answered him. They just walked on as if he wasn't there. He tried a couple more times to get someone's attention, but no. Nothing.

Frustrated, confused, hysterical, he quickly took to the sky and flew off, tears falling down as he tried to make sense of why he was even here if no one could see him, why he would be destined to be this way, why, why, WHY?!

*

Indigo had a solemn look as he remembered. Remembering where he was, he shook his head out of this thoughts and smiled up at Pitch. "But, I've learned to just disregard them. Sure I'm not powerful or anything but, I don't really need humans to believe I'm here. I'm just, being myself in this world."

Pitch looked down at him before giving a small smile. "You're young and naive. You'll learn soon enough."

Indigo was about to question him before he noticed there wasn't any background noise. He stopped and looked up, listening again. The rain outside stopped. 

"Hm. Sounds like it's clear up there." He looked back at Pitch. "I, uh, guess this means you'll want me gone huh?"

Pitch stopped as well and turned to fully face Indigo. "So it seems." He paused, seemingly thinking for a moment. "I guess you'll be on your way then."

Indigo turned his gaze down. "Yes, I guess so." He then turned away towards the entrance and began to faze his wings. He was about to take flight before he heard Pitch behind him. "Indigo,"

The spirit turned to face him. "Yes?"

Pitch paused. "...if you would like to come back, you may do so when you wish."

Indigo's face brightened at the news, smiling as he hovered in the air. "T-Thanks! I'll um, see you soon then. Bye!" He then took off, flying to the entrance and up the hole to the surface.

Pitch watched him as he left. He felt conflicted. Normally he would warn anyone from returning to his home again but this time...this spirit seemed interesting. As he said, young and naive. Maybe he could be of some use to him, whatever that would be. Saying nothing, he turned to a nearby shadowy corner and disappeared into the dark, awaiting for Indigo's next arrival.


End file.
